Kimi Antonelli ha confermato il suo crescente status come uno dei piloti più brillanti della Formula 1 conquistando un’altra pole position, questa volta sul leggendario circuito di Suzuka. Il 19enne ha offerto una prestazione solida e precisa in qualifica, mettendosi ancora una volta davanti a tutti in griglia.

La Mercedes ha occupato la prima fila per la terza gara consecutiva, ma mentre George Russell ha faticato a estrarre il massimo dalla sua vettura, Antonelli è apparso a suo agio per tutta la sessione.

“It was a good session, I’m happy with it. I think I was able to improve lap by lap. That first Q3 lap was good. Second lap was looking strong but then at Turn 11 I locked up and lost quite a bit of time so it was a shame. I was a bit annoyed with that but I got pole position. I felt good in the car, felt good with the track, and now focusing on tomorrow," said Antonelli, as quoted by F1.com.

Nonostante un piccolo errore nel suo ultimo tentativo, Antonelli aveva già fatto abbastanza per assicurarsi la pole position.

L’italiano ha anche apprezzato l’atmosfera di Suzuka, dove i tifosi appassionati e il carattere del circuito creano uno dei weekend più speciali del calendario.

“The fans here in Japan are pretty incredible. There's so much passion and racing at a historic track is an incredible feeling. The track is unbelievable to drive with this kind of car plus the fans give us a little bit more of a boost when we go on track,” ha aggiunto il pilota italiano, che aveva ottenuto la pole anche nel precedente weekend in Cina.

“I was able to build momentum already from the Melbourne race, and then China was continuing to build momentum. It’s just trying to keep this momentum and keep on trying to improve and squeeze a bit of performance every time without overdoing it. I think overall I’m getting a good feeling with the car. Of course there’s still work to do, especially on maximising the PU but it was good. I’m really happy with that,” ha concluso Antonelli.